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Wednesday, September 23, 2009

More on Craig Bellamy

You may have noticed there's been a fair bit of discussion of the Manchester Derby this past week... the amazing match, the controversial injury time equaliser, and of course the confrontation between Craig Bellamy and a pitch invader.

Our good friends Jack from The Lonesome Death of Roy Carroll and Danny from Bitter and Blue have given their thoughts on the matter, and both believe that Bellamy was lucky to escape without sanction from the club and the FA for his actions.

I'm a little surprised by this stance to be honest. We usually see eye-to-eye on most Manchester City issues, however it's not the case with this one. Maybe it's something as simple as being Australian, but I'm of the belief that once a spectator enters the field of play, he becomes fair game — for both security and the players.

If anything, I think Bellamy didn't go far enough. The Rag twat should be thankful he didn't get more than a slap. And be thankful that Andrew Symonds doesn't play football...

Streaking had been part of the Australian ethos for decades. Watching cricket as a youngster in the late 80's and early 90's, barely a week went by without someone running on to the arena, usually nude. It was funny for a while, but after Monica Seles was stabbed by an invader in 1993, the joke was over — spectators now posed a serious threat to players.

Fans on the pitch are trespassing and as such are breaking the law. You should expect the same consequences entering a football pitch illegally as you would breaking into a house — a severe backlash by both the law and the occupants (ie. players). What Bellamy did was not the right thing to do by any means, but that doesn't necessarily mean it was the wrong thing.